RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBSTETRIC ANALGESIA AND TIME OF EFFECTIVE BREAST-FEEDING

The Infant Breast-feeding Assessment Tool (IBFAT) was used to assess t he time of effective breast feeding in 48 healthy term infants born to mothers having their first or second baby. Infants of mothers who rec eived an analgesia (butorphanol or nalbuphine) in labor (n = 26) were compared with infants whose mothers did not receive any labor analgesi a (n = 22). Timing of the administration of labor analgesia was also e xamined with infants whose mothers received no analgesia or analgesia within an hour of birth compared with infants whose mothers received a nalgesia more than one hour before birth. Infants of first-time breast -feeding mothers took longer to establish effective feeding compared w ith infants of second-time breast-feeding mothers. Male infants also t ook longer. Labor analgesia significantly affected mother-rated IBFAT scores when initiation time was considered. Infants who received analg esia within an hour of birth, or no analgesia, and who initiated breas t feeding early, established effective feeding significantly earlier t han infants with longer duration of analgesia and later initiation of breast feeding.